Her Grace Visakha Dasi, President of the ISKCON Bhaktivedanta Manor temple in Watford, represented British Hindus at an Interfaith Breakfast hosted by Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Downing Street before he left for the G20 Summit in Brazil.
During the dialogue, Starmer emphasised the importance of faith to the fabric of UK society as he noted that it especially evident during the Covid pandemic, when great numbers of people turned to “places of worship for shelter and solace in a time of international uncertainty”.
Starmer said that his administration didn’t want to wait for a crisis before interacting and working with faith groups. Rather, he wants to establish and have ongoing relationships between the government and those diverse groups. He acknowledged their profound benefit to society in terms of their humanitarian work, instilling ethical and moral behaviour, creating community, and offering peace to the minds and hearts of the people.
A number of the faith leaders present spoke briefly, addressing the need to include and encourage young people to participate, the need for spiritual education, and the need of a culture in the UK where it’s perfectly acceptable for faith to be expressed differently in different traditions.
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Starmer also emphasised that what he had previously called a “government of service” meant a government in the service of all communities.
He noted: “That concept of service is a value which drives me in terms of what we're trying to achieve in government; sre we serving all of our communities? Are we serving the communities and the congregations that you represent?”
As the meeting concluded, Starmer promised to have another, follow up, one in about six months. And before he left the room, Visakha Dasi gave him a container with kheer, the Indian sweet delicacy which sounds a lot like Keir, from the temple to enjoy with his breakfast.
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That same evening last week there was another meeting at the House of Lords, organised by Faith in Labour presided over by Sir Stephen Timms MP and Baroness Sherlock. That was also attended by ISKCON devotees.
*Info: Bhaktivedanta Manor
